


Cupcake Catalyst

by Sandbirde



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel)
Genre: Cupcakes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-19 04:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14866796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandbirde/pseuds/Sandbirde
Summary: Yuri is sad. Natsuki cheers her up the only way she knows how.I'm now taking commissions! https://sketchbirde.tumblr.com/post/179867361229/sandbirde-sandbirde-updated-commission-post-i





	Cupcake Catalyst

**Author's Note:**

> Title suggested by my friend David! Check out his art http://whatisdavethinking.tumblr.com  
> Getting better at churning these out. Good pride month so far, for sure. Just hope I can carry this steam through the whole month.

“Hey.”

    Yuri startled, shaken out of her mid-novel reverie. She looked up dazedly, her eyes like a caught rabbit’s, at the source of the voice a little too close to her ear.

    “U-um...hi, Natsuki.”

    Natsuki seemed to suddenly realize how close she was to Yuri and backed up slightly, wringing her skirt in her hands. She didn’t look Yuri in the eyes as she spoke, timidly, but with purpose. “Are you okay? You seem off today.”

    Yuri tilted her head, not sure how to respond. “Off?”

    Natsuki fidgeted, her feet shifting. “I don’t know. Maybe I was just imagining it. You just seem more spacey than usual, I guess? Like something’s bothering you.”

    Yuri had been staring at Natsuki curiously, but at this she looked away. “Oh.” She smoothed her skirt absentmindedly. “Hm. I don’t think…” She chewed her lip contemplatively for a moment, then tried again. “I shouldn’t bother you with my problems.”

    Natsuki blushed slightly. “It’s not a bother if I’m the one that asked.” She stepped closer again, finally looking directly at Yuri. She paused, then spoke in a gentle, low voice. “Seriously. Do you want to talk?”

    Yuri continued to focus her gaze on some indeterminate area of the classroom that didn’t include Natsuki, her expression pained. “I -” She sighed. “I really appreciate you asking. But…” Her face flushed in discomfort. “I don’t think I can. Not right now. I’m sorry.” Anxiously, she twisted her hair around her fingers, almost as if pulling it in front of her face in shame.

    Natsuki’s stomach fluttered. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Her hand twitched, almost reaching out to Yuri before changing its mind and curling into a loose fist. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just -” The hand now ascended to Natsuki’s neck, rubbing it awkwardly. “I’m...here, okay?”

    Yuri nodded, too vulnerable to speak.

    Natsuki tried to smile warmly, but it probably came out looking more constipated than comforting. “Okay.” Not sure what to say or do to end the conversation, she simply turned and stiffly walked away.

    Yuri was half grateful, half embarrassed to high heaven.

 

**************************************************************************

 

    The next day, Yuri walked into the club room, only to be greeted by an uncommon, but familiar sight: a plastic platter wrapped in tinfoil, sat neatly on her usual desk.

    “Oh. Natsuki brought cupcakes again? What’s the occasion?”

    Monika glanced up from something she was writing in the back right corner of the room. “Oh. Yeah, I guess so? I’m not sure. She couldn’t stay long; said something about her dad being pissed at her for not cleaning up her room or something? But she dropped that off here and made it absolutely clear that it was only for you, and no one else was to so much as look at whatever’s under there. I assume by your reaction, though, that you don’t know what they’re for any more than I do.”

    Yuri blushed. For...her? Monika was right, she was baffled. Slowly, she approached the tray, noticing a sticky note affixed to the top.

    “Yuri,

    I hope today is better than yesterday. Either way, I made you a little pick-me-up. Don’t worry, they didn’t take me too long. Making cupcakes is basically breathing to me now. Enjoy!

     Natsuki”

    Yuri blushed deeper, the blood making its way to the tips of her ears and down her neck. She was stunned. No one had ever - and it was so - and Natsuki??? Her hand trembled as she lifted the foil.

    The appearance of the cupcakes was even more surprising. The frosting was an intensely dark brown, with a striking red eye drawn in icing on each one. It was clearly meant to bear a resemblance to the book Yuri had been buried in since day one of the club. It was a level of consideration she hadn’t been expecting, even after such a grand gesture, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to cry or throw up. She hoped it was the former, at least, as it was less embarrassing and less messy. Regardless, though, her hand reached out almost without her input, gingerly removing one of the cupcakes from the platter.

    She didn’t want to ruin the painstaking icing, but she knew it would be more of a shame to waste the cupcakes entirely. So she delicately peeled back the wrapper, turning the cupcake in her hand as she examined it. The cupcake itself also appeared to be some kind of dark chocolate - perhaps black forest? Yuri wasn’t brushed up on her cake flavors. There were also chunks of something reddish-purple mixed in, which Yuri assumed to be black cherries. Wow. What an artistic and heartfelt creation she held in her hands. How did she get this lucky?

    She sat for a moment, almost dizzy from trying to absorb everything. She was still holding the cupcake delicately in her hand when Natsuki rushed in.

    “Hey guys! My dad decided not to be a dick after all, so I’m back! Anything happen wh-” Natsuki stopped, her voice caught in her throat. Yuri was sitting at her desk, a cupcake in hand, with an expression on her face Natsuki had never seen before. Natsuki was terrified suddenly, her stomach plummeting and her hands tingling. Had something happened? Were the cupcakes bad? She swallowed the threat of tears and spoke.

    “Ah, hey, Yuri.”

    Yuri turned to Natsuki, eyes shining. Oh, no. Something _was_ wrong. Natsuki tried to play it cool anyways.

    “Have you tried it yet? I hope they came out okay. It was a new recipe, so I wasn’t sure what I was doing, haha.”

    Yuri gazed at Natsuki for a frozen moment before turning to the cupcake, as if she’d forgotten she was holding it. “Oh.” Then it hit her, how she must look just sitting there like that. “Ah, sorry! I just - I’ll try it right now.” She carefully bit into the cupcake, although she knew there was no way to avoid getting a little frosting on her face. She chewed slowly and swallowed; Natsuki felt almost as if Yuri were swallowing her heart too. But then, Yuri finally smiled.

    “It’s lovely.” Yuri’s blush began fading, leaving her cheeks a flustered but stable rosy pink. “I -” She turned to Natsuki, no longer able to hold the tears back. Setting the cupcake down on the desk, she stood up. Natsuki wasn’t sure what was happening, until Yuri’s arms were around her and - _oh._

    It took Natsuki a few seconds to catch up to the fact that Yuri was hugging her. It was weird, of course, seeing as the height difference was massive, but Yuri’s arms were gentle, and her body soft, and - _wow._ Natsuki usually didn’t like being touched, but this was. Different. This was so _good_. She was still overwhelmed, and honestly not sure how much longer she could bear it, but she quickly threw her arms up around Yuri in return.

    They stood like that for about fifteen seconds before Yuri seemed to remember herself, letting go and pulling away rapidly. “Oh, no, I’m sorry, Natsuki! I forgot you don’t like that! After all you’ve done, I can’t believe I would go and -”

    “Yuri.” Natsuki’s voice wobbles, but she hopes she sounds calm enough to reassure. “It’s okay. That was nice.”

    Yuri was lost for words, but somehow her brain was on autopilot today, which she was more than happy to accept. “Natuski…” She sniffed, a tear trickling down her cheek. “Th-thank you. I really can’t thank you enough. You have no idea what you’ve done for me.” She couldn’t hold back anymore, and the floodgates opened. She started sobbing into her hands, right in the middle of the club room.

    Natsuki, also highly emotional (not to mention a sympathy crier), started tearing up as well. “Wow, if I’d know this is what it would get me, I would have made you some sooner.” They both laughed a little before sitting down at adjacent desks, trying to calm themselves.

    Monika, who had respectfully stepped out of the room a while ago, tentatively peeked around the doorframe. “Is everything okay?”

    Natsuki turned to face Monika. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry for interrupting everything.”

    “It’s fine. Clearly you guys needed to let loose a little, so I don’t mind it happening here. We’re all friends here, right?”

    Natsuki turned to Yuri, grinning broadly, her eyes still a little teary. “Yeah. Definitely.”

    Yuri smiled back, still nervous, still sad, but a little warmer and brighter than usual. “Agreed.”


End file.
